


In Their Own Mind

by Melethril



Category: Captain America (Movies), Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: End of the World, For more info look at A/N, Gen, Good!Tony Stark, Hurt No Comfort, Infinity Gauntlet, MCU: Infinity Wars, Not Happy, Thanos takes it all, Tony Stark Defense Squad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-15
Updated: 2017-07-15
Packaged: 2018-12-02 12:49:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11509779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melethril/pseuds/Melethril
Summary: This is a short depressing one-shot of something that thankfully will not happen in MCU.Short summary: Thanos wins. Or not.





	In Their Own Mind

**Author's Note:**

> I should probably finish up my WIP’s, but then, I wanted to read some reviews about Spiderman:Homecoming (it has only been released in my country this week) to see what they say about Tony Stark’s involvement in it and...*sigh*  
> “Tony Stark is the true villain of the Marvel Cinematic Universe” seems to be a very common theme.  
> And honestly?  
> I’m done. That’s it. I am not even sure if I want to continue watching this whole f*ing franchise anymore. The character of Tony Stark is the cruelest creation of Marvel because he seems doomed to be hated, but they don’t have the guts to make him an actual villain, just the guy people blame everything for… Most villains at least get to enjoy their villainy occasionally…  
> It actually reminds me of one of the presidential debates last year when President Trump (Mr. Trump back then) kept blaming Secretary Clinton for a number of matters, to which she replied, “Soon I will be blamed for everything” to which Mr. Trump said, “Why not?”  
> That seems to be MCU’s treatment of Tony Stark in a nutshell.
> 
> To summarize the one-shot, this story is pitch-black, short, not humorous in any way and is my ultimate f*k you to the MCU. Unless they make him an actual villain, I will be part of the Tony Stark Defense Squad. And if they make him a villain, I will make sure that ‘Good!Tony’ and ‘MCU has such a terrible time creating compelling villains that they have to recruit the heroes to do a proper job’ become regular tags…. Well, not that last one, but you get the gist. 
> 
> Please tell me that S:H is not as anti-Tony as the reviews make it seem. Tell me, he’s just a good guy for once… Lie to me if you have to.
> 
> Oh and before I forget: All-knowing!Thanos is a trope I made up: With all the Infinity Gems, the gauntlet pretty much provides Thanos with infinite knowledge. Just in case you wonder why he knows the things he knows in this story.

Thanos stepped over the dead body of the red synthetic, which had carried the Mind Stone. With the gauntlet in his grasp, Midgard’s defenders stood no chance. The red-and-blue shield of Midgard’s mightiest hero shattered to a million pieces; its carrier killed on impact. The feathers of Loki’s little bird had been plucked one by one together with the falcon’s wings, while their own knives beheaded the spider and the winter. The golden son of Asgard, still grieved and weakened by his fallen home as well as his brother’s ultimate sacrifice, fell faster than he had expected. Thanos destroyed his green companion, and the remaining man had screamed in agony at the loss of his protector; madness would destroy him, or make him a destructive force the Mad Titan could respect. Another hero in a grey metallic suit lay crushed on the ground, still alive.

The Mad Titan removed the mask to see what lurked beneath. The man was short, and thin, his legs destroyed a long time ago, an injury caused during a fight amongst brothers in arms.

Imminent death did not seem to frighten the Metal Man. Instead, he looked up and coughed.

“Before you kill me, torture me, whatever… You should know that you too will die. Tyrants and those born for greatness can only fall. You already stand on top,” he coughed violently and blood dripped from his mouth. Thanos had to do nothing; he would die a slow, painful death. “The ground can only crumble beneath your feet. Earth may have been helpless to stop you, but then we’ve been broken a long time ago. You cannot move a body when the brain is gone. You did not defeat us, Thanos; we did that to ourselves. Oh, and fuck you!”

With these words, he closed his eyes after another coughing fit and refused to acknowledge his presence even after Thanos drove the metal rod deeper into the man’s abdomen. He died slowly and painfully, but his honor remained intact.

The Mad Titan finally met his daughter again. The Guardians put up the most valiant fight, but without proper help from Midgard, they crumbled under his powers. A young spider and an ant attacked together but the resistance they put up was pitiful. All their attacks were foolish, ill-planned and strategically pathetic. The resistance by the panther’s land was the strongest. They could have become a danger, but their isolation was their downfall. They would have needed the help of the world in order to succeed. One by one, each land fell and was under his reign. After seven days of glorious destruction and victory upon victory, he stepped into a prison underwater that held Midgard’s most terrible villain, or so the only surviving guard told him.

“Who is that villain?” he asked the trembling broken human, thinking of a potentially useful servant for future wars.

He was told stories of a narcissistic, selfish man who had sold weapons to his enemies; a cunning and brilliant soul who had nearly destroyed Midgard on numerous occasions under the disguise of a hero; the man who had destroyed the Avengers single-handedly and who had recruited children for the fight; a monster with enormous wealth, power and intelligence with the ability to change everyone’s lives for the worse. Thanos was thrilled to meet this soulless creature and was disappointed to discover the short, broken man sitting on a bed barely big enough to hold his small body. His head was bowed and he looked old. He was by no means the monster described to Thanos. All Thanos saw was a weak little man broken by those he had once called friends, broken by the world and his knowledge of what the world could be, not realizing that he was one of the few capable of understanding the glory and terror the future could bring; a lonely soul to the core.

The Mad Titan stepped into the room.

The man looked up, his hair filthy and unkempt.

“If you have something to say, say it, otherwise kill me and be done with it,” rasped Midgard’s last living hero… or villain, both were different sides of the same coin.

There were hundreds of ways he could end this: extend the man’s agony by keeping him alive or letting him starve to death in his own cell, mutilate him, slowly destroy him… Unfortunately, he was already defeated, and there was no fun playing with a broken toy.

“Goodbye, Tony Stark,” said Thanos lifting his greatest weapon.

“See you in hell,” replied the short man.

The energy from the gauntlet hit the man killing him on impact, but to Thanos’ horror, intense blue energy burst from the man’s chest hitting the gauntlet.

The Mad Titan’s last thoughts were that he should have just snapped Stark’s neck.

**Author's Note:**

> The title refers to an interview I saw with Tom Hiddleston a few years ago with the quote:
> 
> "Every villain is a hero in their own mind."


End file.
